Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared that an overwhelming majority of Hungarians oppose Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, citing the results of a national referendum ahead of the EU summit in Brussels on June 26, Origo reported.

“On behalf of more than 2mn Hungarians, I will state at the meeting today that Hungary does not support Ukraine's accession to the European Union. These are the facts,” Orban said.

According to the Hungarian government, 95% of voters rejected Ukraine’s EU membership bid in the referendum, which was framed by Budapest as an expression of national sovereignty and security concerns. The result underscores Hungary’s increasingly confrontational stance toward Brussels and its long-standing opposition to deeper EU integration with Kyiv.

Orban added that no formal decision on Ukraine’s membership could be made at the Brussels summit without unanimous approval from all 27 EU member states. “Nothing will happen at the summit on June 26 that would have legal consequences for Ukraine's membership in the EU,” he said.

On May 25, Orban reiterated via social media platform X that Hungary would not finance Ukraine’s EU accession, which runs “counter to Hungary’s national interests.” He has previously warned that allowing Ukraine into the bloc could entangle the EU in prolonged geopolitical instability and could spark a war with Russia.

The upcoming summit will end with a clash between Hungary and the European Commission (EC) which is pushing hard for an accelerated Ukrainian accession. EU foreign policy chief and former Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who is spearheading the effort, says she has a Plan B to dodge Budapest’s de facto veto that may include stripping Hungary of its voting rights in the European parliament.

The Hungarian government remains the most vocal critic within the EU of ongoing financial and military assistance to Ukraine, often aligning its messaging with that of the Kremlin. However, similar sentiments have been echoed by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who also opposes admitting Ukraine to the EU.

In a related development, former Russian president and current Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, criticised the proposal. Writing on Telegram, he said the EU had evolved into a “self-sufficient military bloc” that posed a strategic threat to Russia. “The former European Union, which was once created on the basis of the European Coal and Steel Community, no longer exists,” he wrote.

Medvedev accused the EU of arming Ukraine and financing its military efforts using frozen Russian assets, with the aim of making “the Kyiv regime invulnerable to Russia.”